I am preparing to start a 351w build to put in my pickup. Here is what I have: My pickup; 1995 f150 302, MAF, stock aside from longtube headers, and 1.7 crane rr.
Donor vehicle; 1995 f150 351w SD, everything stock as far as I can tell.

Project: I would like to build a strong 351 in the neighborhood of 300 hp and 400 ft/lbs of torque. More importantly is good strong power from idle to about 4500rpm. I would like to maybe improve on MPG or at least keep it the same. I was hoping to keep the budget below $2000 with parts and machining.

My question is what can be done with the stock heads and intake? By making great use of the search function it seems that the intake could be a little limiting to my goals, and I haven't found any good info on max hp with the heads.

How far can I go with the 5.0 MAF computer before it needs a retune, or chip burned for it?

Any advice or examples from past builds are appreciated. Thanks.

 

You can reach your goals with some head porting but for what it's gonna cost to have that done right you're better off finding some GT40 heads and just use them as they are, GT40s flow 20% better than E7s which is about what you need. The intake is a bigger problem however, it can be ported but again you're looking at some decent coin to have it done right so I suggest you just buy a ProProducts Typhoon intake instead. Then rebuild the bottom end with pistons to bring CR up into the 9-9.5:1 range with those heads(stock is 8.8), add a cam like the Comp Cams 35-512-8, and you're all set. The stock MAF system in your truck will run this, it'll take a few drive cycles for it to adjust to the larger engine but overall it should run pretty well.

 

Not to hijack your thread, but I would like to accomplish the same thing with my 95 F250 4x4. I have the stock 5.8L with a set of Ford Racing shorty headers and a single 3 inch Flowmaster exhaust. My biggest question is what will I have to do to the stock ECM to support the hardware upgrades? I do have a JET chip for it that I have never put in.

 

Unless you get a custom chip burned for your exact engine combo on a dyno don't bother, mail order chips will just make things worse not better. In your case there really isn't anything needed to support these mods anyway, the cam is the most important part and it's SD EFI friendly so it'll run the way it is on your stock 5.8 EFI system.

 

I would never suggest to anyone to use a non-custom chip for their EEC. If you are looking at the same upgrades as Fordenthusiasts then you'll be OK as Cos said. But if you start to change what you are going to do (for example, if you decide to get a different cam than the suggested one), come back here and let us know.

 

So what would be my max potential with stock heads and intake? Would it even make a difference to put a cam in it with the stock heads and intake?

I'm just trying to figure out if I should jump over the stock parts threshold or just max it out. The way I figure it the intake is about $600, heads would be anywhere from $500-1200, add new 24lb injectors I'm guessing for $200. Plus whatever else it requires to get that kind of horsepower.

 

This is what I was referring to...when you start going beyond the limits of the system you need to start making some adjustments to the computer. The injectors will require an adjustment. You can try to use a calibration tube on the MASS Air sensor but I'd suggest you get the computer tuned on a dyno as Conanski mentioned.

Once you figure out all your hardware (heads, cam, injectors, etc.) we'll be able to tell you what you would need to do to the computer (if you'll need a tune depending on what parts you will replace).

The MASS Air system is a very dynamic and adaptable system but changing certain things (size of MASS Air housing, cam, injectors) immediately means the computer needs to be adjusted to operate correctly.

 

Chips on these old trucks are worthless. Unless its a 7.3 powerstroke

 

I'm doing exactly the same thing with my 351w and i'm very interested in all the information here. I'm going the route of a rebuilt roller bottom end and gt40 heads. possibly milled to bump up the compression. I may even port them myself alittle. I also may run 1.7 roller rockers instead of a whole new cam. But Where i'm lost is intake.

 

So what if I went the route of putting some gt40s on and leaving the stock intake? Because most of the time this pickup isn't going to see over 3000 rpm and probably never over 4500 rpm. Is the intake going to restrict power all the time or will it only become restrictive in the upper rpms? I really would just like this engine to pull real strong off idle up to about 4500 rpms because this is going to be a daily driver that tows and hauls sometimes, so if I can make a lot of torque at 2000 rpm where it cruises at I'm hoping that will keep my mpgs up.

I'd like to go all out on this build but money is not letting me do that, so if I can cut out $800-900 on the intake that would help.

 

I have a couple more thoughts that I'd like to run past you guys.

Can I run the Comp 35-512-8 with 1.7 rr or would that be too much lift? I would really like to use the ones off my 302 because they only have a couple thousand miles on them.

If not, how much difference would there be between the stock cam and 1.7 rr and the comp cam with 1.6?

Also if someone would like to comment on my post above this one I am still trying to decide what to do.

 

I'm going to build a 96 5.8 almost exactly the same as you. I'm going with cast iron GT40 heads, that Comp Cam and 1.6 roller rockers. Conanaki suggested the 1.6 rockers with this cam. I may be using the stock intake at first, not sure. I'm planning on using the Edelbrock truck intake.

 

I ran a 357w with gt40p heads a crane 44232 cam with roller rockers. It was a very respectable set up. It would run with a dmax with a chip intake and exhaust. The race depended on the start until about 80mph when the dmax would walk away from me. Lost a lifter with that set up so while the intake was off i decided to change the cam, heads, intake, computer, injectors and more. I was happy with gt40ps but more happy with AFRs and a roller cam set up. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

About 270hp and 380-400TQ, the factory heads and intake equally limit the HP potential of this motor.

Oh yes, all the stock cams leave some potential on the table.

You can't(shouldn't) change the injectors without tuning the computer so that's the limiting factor of the stock setup.. but even then 19s will support a 300hp motor without much trouble. The ProPorducts Typhoon intake is about half the price of an Edelbrock Performer.. so only about $350.

 

That'll produce 0.510" lift which should clear but you'll have to check... each set of heads is different. The cam I have in my 5.0 produces 0.512" lift and doesn't produce any coil bind on E7TE heads, and there's usually no danger of P-V clearance with these relatively short duration cams but for insurance always use pistons with valve eyebrows.

The comp cam is a little more aggressive than the stock cam but lift and duration numbers of these two combinations is close to equal so there wouldn't be a hugh difference in power produced.